Dog Pounds and Tears
by Lilly Winters
Summary: Gir runs away after a fight with Zim and gets caught and brought to the Dog Pound. Can Zim save him from getting put to sleep or will he be too late? Perhaps you never realize ones loyalty until it is tested. Zim and Gir Friendship!


**A/N**

**Here ya go! Another Zim and Gir Friendship fic. I thought it was actually pretty good. I hope you like it and remember to review and leave your feedback. I really appreciate it!**

**I do NOT own Invader Zim or anything. This is just a story for the entertainment of my awesome fans :D**

Gir squealed and lunged at a squirrel. Luckily, Zim had a tight grip on his leash, causing Gir to jerk back.

"Gir! Leave that tree monster alone!" He tugged at the leash and began to leave the park. Gir whined and look at his master.

"But I want to play with them more."

"No, Gir. Maybe later. I have much work to do at the base. These filthy humans will not know what hit them!" He yelled victoriously.

Gir whimpered and slowly followed his master out of the park. Though, that did not stop him from messing with everything else he came in contact with. Twice, Zim had to pull a bird out of his grasp, return a garbage can to the street corner and out of Gir's head, and even had to rescue a child which Gir was sucking on. Afterwards, Zim was not in the best of moods. They happened to pass the taco restaurant and Gir began hopping up and down excitedly. But before he had the chance to ask for a burrito, Zim faced him abruptly, his face twisted with anger.

"Gir, will you behave for once? I know you probably don't even know what that means, but please try your hardest to act like a real SIR unit."

Gir shrunk down at the hurtful words.

"I don't know where the Tallest got that you were advanced because I certainly do not see it!"

Gir's eyes widened and became wet as tears began forming. Zim felt a twinge of guilt, but turned to continue their walk home. _If I show guilt, it will only reinforce his behavior_, Zim assured himself.

For the rest of the walk home, Gir remained silent and did what he was told. The Irken no longer had to scold him for chasing squirrels or reprimand him for stealing garbage cans. In fact, he did not have to do anything, but lead the way home and open the door for him. He unhooked Gir and watched him walk into the kitchen.

"You aren't going to watch TV, Gir?" Zim asked, raising an eyebrow in confusion.

"Maybe later, master."

Gir limply hopped onto a kitchen chair and laid his head down on the table. Zim walked up from behind, concerned by his companion's odd behavior.

"But the Angry Monkey show is coming on?"

Gir simply shrugged.

"It's probably just a rerun."

"But you love reruns?"

Gir did not reply.

"Gir?"

Still, he said nothing.

Zim waited a moment longer before he began inching towards the trash can elevator. Assuming he wanted to be alone, he crawled in and went down to his lab. Seeing that his master had left, a lone tear slid down Gir's face and onto the kitchen table. He sniffled and took off the hood of his costume. He reached a hand into his head and pulled out a paper and pencil.

"Maybe the master would like me better if I didn't act like me." He sniffled as he wrote a letter and left it on the table, clear in view and waiting for someone to read the small robot's suffering. He hopped off of the chair and made his way to the front door. Pulling his disguise on once again, he glanced at the base, held back further tears, and stepped out onto the unknown streets.

He glanced around, trying to recognize any street, and managed to find his way to the park. There, he saw plenty of dogs. He raced up to a group of owners and their dogs and began observing them. People whispered at the lone green 'dog' and someone quickly pulled out their phone. Gir was too absorbed in his observations to notice a man with a net approaching soon after. Only did he notice when the net came down on him and dragged him into the back of a truck labeled Dog Pound.

The elevator arrived on the house level and the alien peered across the kitchen and living room. There was no sign of Gir.

"Gir?" He walked over to the kitchen table where the robot was seated when he had left him, but he was no where to be found. Only a single sheet of paper remained on the table. He picked it up to read it, but a sound outside the front door caught the Irken's attention. Assuming it was Gir messing around, he shook his head and opened the door. Yet, instead of seeing his green dog, he saw Dib.

"Dib-beast!"

Dib jumped, clearly unaware of the alien's presence, and fell backwards.

"What are you doing at my house, filthy worm-baby?" He walked over to him and waved the paper as he spoke. "How dare you try to infiltrate the base of Zim!"

Dib eyed the note in confusion.

"What's with the paper?"

"Pitiful human—eh?" He looked at his hand, remembering the note. "Oh yes. I nearly forgot."

He ignored Dib as he struggled to get up. Dib dusted himself off and was prepared to sneak away when he saw Zim's eyes widen in horror.

"Zim?"  
>"Oh no…" He muttered. The note slid from his hands and he stared off into space, clearly worried. Dib remained where he stood until he grew impatient.<p>

"Well, I guess I'll just be going."

"Gir…" Zim mumbled.

Dib stopped, turning to face the extraterrestrial.

"What?"

"Gir has run away."

He thought back to who Gir was and remembered it was the alien's small ally.

"You mean that insane robot? I'm surprised you care."

"Why do you say that, worm-filth?" Zim asked angrily.

"Maybe because you are constantly yelling at him and putting him down." Dib shrugged. "I didn't really think you cared for him."

The words echoed in Zim's mind and he grew ashamed. Had he really been that awful to Gir? All at once, memories flooded back to him; each harsh word, every scolding, and more importantly, every put down was brought back to him. He sat on the ground helplessly.

"What have I done?" He stared at the ground.

"Did he say where he was going?"

"He said he was going to observe other dogs so that he may be normal." Zim winced as he recalled the note the robot had left. "But the only place he is familiar with is the town park."

"Maybe we should check there?"

"We?" He questioned.

"I don't mind Gir. He was never really a threat to Earth." Dib shrugged.

Zim eyed him suspiciously.

"How do I know this is not just a trap?"

"Oh, come on, Zim! If it were a trap, why would I be taking you to the park?" He pointed out. Zim thought it over and agreed that it would be stupid.

"Okay, Dib. I will accept your help, but only this once!"

Dib sighed and began walking to the park.

The two enemies arrived at the park, but Gir was no where in sight.

"Great." Zim sulked. "He isn't here."

Dib looked around and saw a group of people talking. With them, they had their dogs. He remembered the reason why Gir had ran away and walked up to the crowd.

"Excuse me, have you seen a little green dog around here?" He asked.

A man looked up and nodded.

"Yeah, I did. As a matter of fact, you just missed it."

"Tell me where he went, you dirt monster!" Zim stepped forward. Dib shook his head at the odd insult.

"A dog catcher caught him. Brought him to the dog pound."

Zim faced Dib, pushing the man out of his way.

"Dib-beast! We must hurry to this pound of dog!"

Dib stepped back at the Irken's increasing volume.

"Okay, okay. We'll go to the dog pound, but we'll have to hurry."

"How come?" The possibilities raced through his mind.

"The dog pound has been getting really full lately and when it gets too full, they usually only give new dogs about an hour or so before they put them to sleep."

"What is so awful about giving a dog rest?"

Dib face-palmed at the alien's lack of knowledge on the human's methods.

"They aren't literally putting them in a bed and making them to go sleep, Zim! When you put an animal to sleep, they don't wake up. The injection kills them."

"What?" Zim yelled.

"What it does is—"

But Zim grabbed Dib's wrist and began running.

"We do not have time for this, Dib-worm. We must find him now!" Zim pulled out a small remote and pushed a button.

"What does that do?" Dib pointed.

"It is a communicator. If Gir answers, he can tell us where he is."

Alone in the dog pound, Gir sat in the corner of his metal cage. A lone tear clung to his face as he whimpered and sniffled. He felt a vibration coming from within and pulled down his hood. The top of his head opened and an alien device popped out. A red light blinked, signaling an incoming call. Gir knew it would be Zim so he ignored it and stuffed the device back into his head.

"If the master knew I failed again, he would be even more upset." He cried.

He pulled his hood back on when he heard someone approaching. A man opened the door and gruffly grabbed Gir by his head. Gir peered up at the man and shivered and writhed in his tight grip.

"He didn't answer. Gir never ignores my calls." Zim panicked. He continued running even though his body felt like it was on fire. He was exhausted, but refused to give up. He knew Gir would never give up on him. About ten feet behind, Dib struggled to continue, his lungs burning with each breath he drew. He had to admit: Zim was very determined to get Gir back. He just hoped it wasn't too late. As they ran, Zim's PAK beeped and he reached inside, retrieving a long paper that was similar to a list.

"What is that?" Dib huffed.

"My PAK researched the injection they use to put the dogs to sleep. I am reviewing it to see if it can effect Gir because he is a robot." Zim stared intensively at the list. He hardly noticed when they arrived the entrance of the dog pound. They pushed the doors open, Zim leaping inside. He marched up to the receptionist.

"My dog may have been brought here earlier today. Do you know if you have a green dog back there?" Zim asked hurriedly. Dib had never heard him use such respect for a human before.

"Actually, yes we did. About an hour ago, one of our guys brought him here."

"May I see if he is still here?"

She nodded and opened the gate leading to the back. Zim nervously followed, messing with his fingers along the way. He saw the receptionist talking with a mean looking man. She nodded and returned to Zim and Dib.

"I'm sorry, but they just got done injecting a green dog." She informed.

Zim stared in horror and staggered backwards against the wall. Dib nodded and thanked the lady before going to his side. Zim slid to the ground, cradling his face in his claws. Dib could see his body beginning to shake.

"They may have injected him, Zim, but Gir _is_ a robot after all. It probably didn't even affect him." Dib reassured.

Zim glared up at him and only then did Dib realize the tears streaming down his face. His green skin burned at the contact of the liquid, though he did not even notice. With lightening speed, he grabbed Dib by the collar, jerking him down until the human was face-to-face with the Irken.

"You don't get it do you?" He growled. "You humans use the same main chemical found in the injection that we Irkens use when we wish to deactivate SIR units! That means that when they put Gir to sleep, it really worked. It means that Gir…" But he couldn't bring himself to say it. He yelled and slammed his fist against the floor, breaking down into fresh tears. He was angry and torn apart all at once. Angry with himself because he couldn't save Gir in time and torn apart because he had just lost the only true friend he had.

"You humans are disgusting!" He hollered. "I swear, I will destroy every last one of you no matter what it takes." He gritted his teeth at the pain of the tears that stung his flesh. In all honesty, he could have cared less about the humans; all he wanted was to have Gir back. But when Zim was hurt, he became angry. His mind instantly focused on eliminating the source of his pain which in that case was the humans who had killed Gir. Dib understood that he was merely hurting and stared sadly down at him. He even rested a hand on the alien's shoulder. Zim was about to pull away in shame, but instead, remained and cried harder.

Dib thought he heard something from the other room, but ignored it, assuming it was just his imagination. When he heard it again though, he perked up and looked for the source of the sound. His mouth hung agape for a moment before he walked off. Zim ignored him and remained sitting on the floor with his head rested on his knees, legs pulled up to his chest. A moment later, he felt a hand grasp his shoulder.

"I do not need your pity, Dib. You may go home now." He hissed. Even though he needed comfort, he refused to accept it from a human, the race that had taken Gir away from him. Yet, the hand remained. He glared up, ready to snap at him, but faltered. Gir stood before him, smiling. Zim looked from Gir to Dib to the man who had supposedly injected him. Before Gir could explain, Zim wrapped his arms around the small robot and pulled him close. He pulled his hood off, ignoring the fact that the people at the dog pound could see him without his disguise, and smiled as he continued to cry. Dib stepped up to explain.

"Apparently, they had another green dog here that was just injected. They thought you were talking about that dog when they told you Gir had all ready been put to sleep. But Gir was safe all along."

Zim laughed at himself and at the whole situation, but soon his tears of joy turned to tears of pain as he realized he had almost lost his best friend and nearly lost the chance to apologize.

"I'm so sorry, Gir." He whispered. "I could have lost you. I came so close to losing you."

Gir squeaked and hugged his master.

"Never change, Gir. I like you just the way you are, okay? Please don't ever change…"

Dib was shocked but smiled at the pair and decided to leave them to their reunion. He glanced over his shoulder before leaving and shook his head.

"Maybe you really did care about him after all, Zim."

**A/N**

**Aw, I loved that end scene. Though, that scene with Zim crying was heartbreaking :(. I just had to give it a happy ending lol. I hope you liked it and continue looking for more Zim and Gir Friendship fics! **


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